Page 31 of Galen
He beamed at me. “Oh, okay. If you want to step outside, we can.”
And we did. I didn’t try running either. Not that there was anywheretorun. The sea was in front of the mansion, and a mountain rose behind it. I saw a narrow road, but we were literally in the middle of nowhere.
Gray took me to the gym once we went back inside. It was equipped with everything you could ever need—treadmills, ellipticals, weights of all sizes, punching bags, a bike machine, and even a small basketball court off to the side.
“Working out makes me sleepy too. But Galen and Raiden love this room.”
Made sense. They were the most muscled out of the group. I remembered the fullness of Galen’s biceps as he crossed his arms over his wide chest. What I wouldn’t give to be the shirt on his back. He might’ve been a jerk, but he was a hot one.
“For the last stop on the tour, your bedroom,” Gray said, entering a room and throwing himself on the bed. “I hope you like it.”
“Oh.” A very small part of me was disappointed I wouldn’t be staying in Galen’s room again. Which was dumb. Galen had made it all too clear what he thought of me. I was nothing more than a job to him.
“Don’t worry,” Gray said, misreading my mood. “The sheets are clean. Alastair had Bellamy set everything up for you while I was showing you the house.” At my confused look, he added, “We can communicate through our thoughts. He told me about it after I woke up from my nap.”
Telepathic abilities. Just another strange thing to add to the ever-growing list of crazy shit I’d experienced lately.
The room had a queen-sized bed, a closet, a flat-screen TV mounted on the wall, and a connecting bathroom. A large window looked out over the sea, and I leaned against the frame, admiring the view. Closing my eyes, I heard the waves crash against the bottom of the rocky cliff.
I also heard something else. Small intakes of air. I looked over my shoulder, seeing Gray asleep on my bed.
I smiled and turned back to the window.
If thiswasa dream, it was the most vivid one I’d ever had.
Chapter Seven
Galen
Ravenwood Mansion sat on a hill beside the sea, the stone turrets rising high into the night sky.
Alastair and I landed on the roof, our wings ruffling in the wind before folding back into our bodies. We thought it best to visit the place the box had come from to see if we could find answers as to its purpose.
“Do you feel that?” Alastair asked, placing his hand on the rooftop. “Powerful warding protects the home. We can’t get inside.”
“You think the woman was a witch?” I asked, dropping down from the roof to a balcony that overlooked the water. I approached the glass door and was repelled. My body wouldn’t allow me any closer, as if a force field were blocking me.
“A powerful one.” Alastair came to stand beside me. “Witches have allied with demons in the past, so I fail to understand why this one warded them off. Us too, for that matter. She wanted to keep all of us away. We need to know what’s inside that box.”
“I’ll ask Simon to open it for us in the morning,” I said.
When I had finally gone to see him again earlier, he’d been asleep. Gray had been sprawled on the bed beside him, on top of the covers. I had picked Gray up and carried him to his own bed, deciding to let Simon rest. He was still healing and needed to take it easy. Plus, I hadn’t been ready to speak to him yet.
Our argument had irritated me, and the last thing I wanted to do was snap at him when he was confused and scared.
“Perhaps we can bring Simon here too.” Alastair glared at the balcony door we couldn’t touch. “Not everything in the house was sold. I’m sure there’s something inside that will give us answers.”
“You want him to break in? No. He’s going through too much already. We can’t ask him to add burglary on top of that.”
“Why not? What’s the point of keeping him around if he can’t help us?” Alastair cursed under his breath and turned toward the sea. Moonlight caught the pale blond strands of his hair. “You need to cast aside whatever weakness you have for this human.”
“I have no weakness for him.”
“Do not lie to me, Wrath.” Icy blue eyes regarded me. “I see the way you are with him. Fucking humans is one thing. Falling for them is another.”
“Says the one who is currently in love with one.”
“And look where it’s gotten me,” he said, his voice rougher than before as emotion seeped through. “Joseph is dying, and there’s not a damn thing I can do to stop it.” He averted his gaze to the railing beneath his hands. His knuckles turned white as he gripped it tighter. “I forgot how painful it is, watching part of your heart wither away.”
